I don't know how successful he is money wise, but he makes a mean saison. I picked up a bottle when I was in Colorado, and it was tasty.

He's started since I moved from Denver. If I were still there, I'd probably get a Reserve membership. I'm heading out in May for a friend's wedding, so I'll pick up some of his bottles.

They're doing some pretty interesting things with saisons and funky beers. I believe he's an alt prop with Funkwerks -- not certain, but I believe he has his own foudres and is working at opening his own place. One more option/route that isn't "Nano"...

They're doing some pretty interesting things with saisons and funky beers. I believe he's an alt prop with Funkwerks

As an aside, Funkwerks made the most disappointing beer I've ever tried. It was ok, but uninspired. A pretty run-of-the-mill Saison. I tried their New Zealand-hopped version too, which was better, but also unremarkable. I expected so much more from a brewery called "Funkwerks."

When you put up the sign that says sold out the underlying message is "this stuff is damn good and you should have gotten off your butt and bought some when it was available and next time you see it available you'd better buy a case before it's sold out again."

Sadly I think this is the trend with most brewers nowadays. Too many wine people came into the industry and saw how that worked with wine, now they are doing it with beer. Darklord anyone? Kate the Great? Reserve Societies? The 'exclusivity' or the 'I-got-it-and-you-didn't' crowd is becoming larger each year.

Now there are some good beers that are sold out because they are good. And they seem to try to make more each year. Demand for those have grown semi-organically because the beers are really good. But the 'special release' mentality is going to end up hurting more than it helps.

Sadly I think this is the trend with most brewers nowadays. Too many wine people came into the industry and saw how that worked with wine, now they are doing it with beer. Darklord anyone? Kate the Great? Reserve Societies? The 'exclusivity' or the 'I-got-it-and-you-didn't' crowd is becoming larger each year.

Now there are some good beers that are sold out because they are good. And they seem to try to make more each year. Demand for those have grown semi-organically because the beers are really good. But the 'special release' mentality is going to end up hurting more than it helps.

I have to agree with Keith -- it's all marketing, and if it drives more sales for craft beer, go for it... so long as the marketing / campaign doesn't blur the lines of truth.

I do, however, agree that this type of marketing lends itself to furthering the 'beer snob' mentality (which the industry could do with less of), but IMHO that has more to do with the consumers and less to do with the brewers/breweries. Any harm caused is the result of consumers and their need to feel better than the next guy. Could brewers/breweries do more to foster a more inclusive message? Sure -- but at the end of the day, they're trying to create excitement and buzz for their brands in order to stay relevant and competitive, which I can't find any harm in...

I will give you another example, I will be brewing 7bbl of beers and double brews etc. and if I want to do something crazy it is only going to be a 1/2bbl because that is the size of my pilot (homebrew) brewery. I understand the want for it all the time but somethings are just a once in a lifetime thing. I can't tie up a bright tank for 7 months till the RIS is ready! but bet your sweet butt I can condition a 1/2 barrel easy for 7 months.

I'm actually considering setting up a .5-1.5 bbl pilot system. Economically, I can't justify doing that instead of just putting the money into the full-size system, but it would be fun to have around for pilot batches and one-off beers down the road.

Realistically, I think my 10 gal home system will be our "pilot system".

I'm gonna brew on my 10gl TopTier system. For us, it's still gonna be a hobby, but one that makes a little money, or at least helps pay for itself. We've now got two committments for taps at local places, and that's all we really need. I've done the math on this and even with the serving places doubling their money, I can still make enough to pay for this to pay for itself.

We have no delusions of quitting our day jobs. And have got our sytems down where we can brew 2, 10 gallon batches in less than 8 hours. And if things work out, we have a line on 3, 30 gallon used boilermakers for under $500.

I've done the math on this and even with the serving places doubling their money, I can still make enough to pay for this to pay for itself.

Let's see if I can do this without using numbers...

If you mean that you're planning on charging half of retail for your kegs, that's quite a bit more than is typical. More than double the typical wholesale price here in CO, actually. Which is why the conventional wisdom is that it isn't possible to turn a profit on a system that size.

Of course, if you've already worked out pricing with your customers, just ignore me.

I've done the math on this and even with the serving places doubling their money, I can still make enough to pay for this to pay for itself.

Let's see if I can do this without using numbers...

If you mean that you're planning on charging half of retail for your kegs, that's quite a bit more than is typical. More than double the typical wholesale price here in CO, actually. Which is why the conventional wisdom is that it isn't possible to turn a profit on a system that size.

Of course, if you've already worked out pricing with your customers, just ignore me.

I've worked out pricing for one of them. And assuming they get a full 40 pints out of each keg, they will almost triple their money. I just said "double" to make it easy. Plus, there will always be some waste from bad pours and such.